Ask the Religion Experts: Should the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games be boycotted over the Russian anti-homosexual law?

KEVIN SMITH is on the board of directors for the Centre for Inquiry, Canada’s premier venue for humanists, skeptics and freethinkers.

The Olympic flame, lit in honour of the gods; the torch relay, sponsored by Coca-Cola and other mega-rich corporations, is making its way to Sochi.

The gods played an integral role in the Olympics’ genesis, and more than 2,500 years later, it’s discouraging to humanists that the myths of men and women continue to intrude in an event that should celebrate diversity.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is participating in the same race as many third-world countries, where attacking homosexuality is all the rage; people motivated by goodwill for themselves rather than towards others.

American Christian evangelicals, their influence waning at home, have invaded god-fearing Uganda to spread the morals of their homophobic creator, one whose every command must be obeyed if they are to have eternal life. They have been victorious, although the punishment for being gay is merely life in prison and not, as some had prayed for, the death penalty.

Similarly, Putin, whose policies are failing at home, attempts to solidify his base by taking a page from the fundamentalists, cosying up to the corrupt Orthodox Church and finding a minority scapegoat. Instability requires provocation.

Some people have called for a boycott. However, the 1980 boycott did not shame the Russians from leaving Afghanistan, and it’s doubtful a boycott of the 1936 games would have stopped Hitler from slaughtering Jews and other minorities, including homosexuals.

For two weeks, these Olympics will provide an opportunity for a rainbow coalition of people to take a stance against Putin’s abuse of LGBTQ rights. The world will be watching.

As it was with slavery, the world corrects the Bible, and so it will regarding its anti-gay agenda. The holy scriptures remain the same, but the practice eventually changes.

Throughout history, when it comes to human rights, religion has been the last one to reach the finish line.

Rev. RAY INNEN PARCHELO is a novice Tendai priest and founder of Red Maple Sangha, the first lay Buddhist community in Eastern Ontario.

The Olympics are a rare and precious time when nations test their mettle in friendly competition. We are all too aware that the Olympics have been tainted — commercialized, politicized, elitist, economic exploitation, drug use and so on.

Still, the Olympics are an inspiring spectacle in which humans demonstrate the hard-earned fulfilment of their potential. Some would say such achievements far outweigh the occurrence of imperfections which are, after all, intrinsic in the human condition. I am not one of them, and I would urge a reformation in the whole idea of these games.

However, our question isn’t about the value or integrity of the Olympics, but one of the tactics of protest and change. We are obligated to speak out against violations of human rights as we become aware.

In the present instance, appropriate statements have already been made, such as the American decision to construct its representation from the ranks of prominent gay athletes. Canada’s government has yet to announce its delegation, and we can only hope their foot-dragging does not spread to our athletes. These protests seem to have prodded the Russian government to placate protest with prisoner releases.

As a tactic, boycotts are popular because they capture a wide audience.

They are only effective when they are finely targeted and specific in demand. The Nestle baby-milk scandal was one such success. In contrast, the Bangladeshi garment workers’ cause has not succeeded as a boycott.

On this issue, the necessary groundswell of opinion, the coherence of a driving organization and a clarity of goal are not adequate. With the Games starting imminently, its highly unlikely that any boycott would represent anything other than a minor media event.

Given the record of the Putin regime, it doesn’t seem likely a boycott could achieve the goals of those who care about equality or justice.

This would not be the first time that the Olympics are boycotted in Russia, should a boycott be implemented.

This happened in 1980 as a result of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the U.S. ultimatum to withdraw, which was ignored. Many nations boycotted those Olympics mainly due to U.S. pressure, but the games went on anyway.

Further to your question, should Germany have been awarded the Munich Olympics in 1936, when it was clear what was happening in that country? Should China have been awarded the 2008 Olympics when it was killing, and continues to kill innocent people in order to offer their deceased organs to desperate organ tourists? Actually, the organs are not from deceased donors. They are taken forcibly when the victims (not donors) are still alive.

There were massive attempts to have these Olympics boycotted, but to no avail. And opportunities to improve the plight of those who were and are in danger disappeared into the night. The “world” had a golden opportunity to exert pressure to save precious lives, but chose to ignore it. For shame.

Your question recalls what was a fierce debate about whether Canada should have gone into the famous 1972 Hockey Series with Russia, then a much more oppressive regime than it is now. These are not easy questions to resolve, because there are arguments to support the “yes” and “no” positions.

The Russian law you refer to is reprehensible, that is beyond question. What we should be looking at is proper protocol to decide which country is awarded the Olympics, and under what conditions can such award be revoked.

I have no problem with setting a high bar, that any country that has a shoddy human rights record or has legislation that clearly violates human rights should not be asked to host the Olympics. The problem is — who decides this?

Some of the most powerful countries in the world are also the most evil, with human rights records that are abysmal at best. Should we adopt a policy that only democracies can host the Olympics?

I wish there was an easy fix to this quandary.

Rev. KEVIN FLYNN is an Anglican priest and director of the Anglican studies program at Saint Paul University.

Russia’s law banning “gay propaganda” is a vicious, bigoted piece of legislation. The Sochi games have served to bring international attention to the law and no small measure of censure.

Many countries, including Canada, have responded by planning to send only minor officials to the games. U.S. President Barack Obama’s plan to send a delegation that includes prominent gay athletes strikes me as a particularly imaginative response to the law.

Rather than boycott these games, however, I’d much rather boycott the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Over the years, the IOC has been inconsistent in its adherence to section 6 of its own charter which states that “[a]ny form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement.” The IOC’s venality and hubris, and its selective application of its own rules, are of long-standing.

The Sochi Olympics appear set to be the most expensive games yet. Despite assurances of economic benefits to many, most games break even at best.

The enrichment of private individuals and companies at public expense, the displacement and removal of the poor, and the distortion of civic priorities are the more typical legacy of the Olympics once the athletes have gone home.

Though the founder of the Olympics envisioned games that would give priority to the athletes, they have become instead occasions for unseemly expressions of nationalism, replete with flags and anthems.

Many people rightly thrill to and delight in the displays of exceptional athleticism at the Olympics. We can surely have that without so many of the less edifying aspects of the games, including the IOC’s connivance at human rights abuses.

One great help would be the establishment of permanent sites for the summer and winter Games.

Rev. JOHN COUNSELL is lead pastor at Vanier Community Church and host of Late Night Counsell weeknights on 580 CFRA.

The situation in Russia is nothing new. In 1980 most of the “free world” boycotted the Moscow Olympics, over the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan. They were trying to make a political statement.

Hindsight is 20/20; however, it seems the point we were trying to make in retrospect has been rendered moot by the way things turned out there.

For every one person incarcerated in Russia for promoting homosexuality there are hundreds, maybe even thousands in China whose only crime is the practise of their Christian faith.

There were many of us that voiced concern over granting the 2008 Summer Olympic Games to a country with such an abysmal human rights reputation. I’m sure there were those that called for a boycott of those games once China had secured them; however, I don’t recall any boycotts gaining any notoriety from international media like the one regarding Sochi. Do Christians suffer unjustly under the oppressive Chinese system? Of course they do, and I would venture to say that the suffering is far greater in depth and breadth than anything gays are experiencing in Russia right now.

In light of Beijing 2008, boycotting Sochi would be the height of moral hypocrisy. Not only that, but it would be mean demolishing the hopes and dreams of thousands of athletes who have trained and sacrificed for years, many of whom have barely given a minute’s consideration to Russia’s sexuality laws.

I think the gay extremists at the core of the protest will not be happy until they silence absolutely every voice and organization that questions the legitimacy of their lifestyle, and as long as there are Bible-believing Christians breathing, that’s going to be a long, long time.

Fr. JOHN FLETCHER is a Catholic pastor in the Ottawa area.

It may be helpful to explore a bit deeper exactly what Russia has done in this matter. The following quote from World Congress of Families managing director Larry Jacobs may help: “All the law does is to prohibit advocacy aimed at involving minors in a lifestyle that would imperil their physical and moral health. Even the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has shown that sexually transmitted diseases, drug use and suicide rates are significantly higher among what it discreetly calls a ‘sexual minority.’ CDC data also demonstrates that there is much greater health risks among teenagers who practice homosexuality than those who do not engage in homosexual behaviour.”

Jacobs further states: “The law at issue doesn’t change the legality of homosexual relations between adults. It simply states that adults can’t try to corrupt children by encouraging sexual experimentation which could have life-threatening consequences.”

The Catholic Church has always maintained that sex is something so special that it is to be expressed only within the context of marriage, where marriage is properly understood to be between a man and a woman. So sexual intercourse, regardless of gender, outside of marriage is considered a misuse of the gift of our human sexuality and is therefore sinful.

With regard to homosexuality, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

Notice it is the acts that are disordered. With regard to the person we read:

… They (people with homosexual tendencies) must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. These persons are called to fulfil God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition. (CCC 2358)

So, in my opinion, the short answer is no, the Sochi Olympics should not be boycotted for the reason of their stance on homosexuality.

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Ask the Religion Experts: Should the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games be boycotted over the Russian anti-homosexual law?